Bumble Bucket
by DonaldDouglasandToby6
Summary: While building new townhomes, Max and Monty taunt Ned to the point where they cause disaster.


Jack and Alfie were excited as the wind flew by them; Thomas was taking them to Ulfstead so they could build some new townhomes.

"I can't wait to get to the building site!" cried Alfie.

"Indeed!" grinned Jack, "Building townhomes is very special!"

"Slow day, eh?" teased Thomas.

Jack snorted.

"You may think it's less than usual, Thomas, but building a townhome is very important!"

"Right," agreed Alfie, "You get to give families a new home!"

"I understand that, but compared to building a school or racetrack, it doesn't seem that special," explained Thomas.

"Well it is," argued Alfie, "Just you wait and see!"

Soon, Thomas puffed into the village.

Nelson was nearby with his trailers.

"Thanks, Thomas!" he called cheerfully, "I'll be taking them to where the building site is."

"No problem, Nelson," replied Thomas as he shunting his wellwagons into a siding, "I'll be back with lumber, bricks and other supplies soon!"

And the tank engine puffed away, whistling.

Jack and Alfie were ecstatic as they raced up to Nelson.

"Oh, we can go there by ourselves," Alfie chuckled, "Race you, Jack!"

"You're on!" grinned Jack as the two best friends drove to the construction site.

Nelson sighed.

Miss Jenny groaned as she noticed Jack and Alfie scurrying into the construction site.

"Jack, Alfie, stop!"

The two machines halted immediately, worried.

"Ugh, I thought you two would remember-"

"Safety first!" interrupted Nigel proudly as he brought Byron in.

"...exactly, Nigel, but... don't interrupt me again."

"Oh... Sorry ma'm." said the lorry sheepishly.

"Yes, sorry," said Jack and Alfie.

Ms. Jenny walked away to attend to other arrangements.

Max rushed by, lifting dust everywhere, followed by Monty.

"Ha, we don't need runts like you in our way!" huffed Max.

Byron groaned.

"And so it begins..."

"What?" asked Nigel.

"You're still new here," said Nelson as he drove up, "But Max and Monty are terrors."

"Quite right," agreed Alfie.

"Why? What do they do?"

"They tease you until you break down," replied Jack, "That's why you have to stand up to them like I once did!"

Alfie smiled, remembering when his best friend stood up to Max.

"Heh. heh. Come on Jack, let's get to work!"

And the two little vehicles scurried away to dig.

Nigel looked over to a large steam shovel, who was humming to himself.

"That's Ned, right? I can't always get your names right."

"Yes," replied Nelson, "He's a kind one, but he can be a bit..."

"Watch out, Bumble Bucket!" roared Max as Ned backed into him.

"Oops... Sorry," said Ned quickly.

Max grunted as he raced away with the dirt.

"So... clumsy?"

"Yes," whispered Byron, "But he means well, really."

"Oh. Um... What does 'Bumble Bucket' mean exactly?" asked Nigel quietly.

"It's Max and Monty's nickname for him," replied the bulldozer, "And it's not exactly... nice."

"Hello Bumble Bucket," chortled Monty as he raced up to him, "Don't knock the townhomes down!"

Ned sighed sadly.

Nigel frowned.

"I see..."

Later, Ned was shoveling dirt into Monty.

"Ugh, hurry up, you big oaf!"

Ned frowned.

"I'm trying, I'm trying..."

"You never try!" Monty sneered.

"I don't understand what I did though..."

"You cause accidents left and right!"

"What do you mean...?" Ned asked worriedly.

"You broke that slate that one time!" Monty huffed.

"That wasn't me though... That was Jack."

"Sure, blame it on someone else like you always do..." Monty scowled.

Ned felt hurt.

"But I-"

"Coming through!" grinned Max as he smashed into a pile of bricks.

Ms. Jenny, who was talking to The Foreman, gasped and looked around.

"Who did that?!" she said angrily as she eyes the pieces of brick.

"Um... Ned did it!" spluttered Monty.

"What?"

"Yes, he did!" cried Max, "Look at him! He looks guilty!"

Ms. Jenny walked over to the steam shovel, squinting.

"Is this true, Ned?"

Ned was so flustered he couldn't say anything.

"I, um..."

"Ned, you should know better than to race around like that. You almost went as fast as Max and Monty usually do. Be more careful or I'll have to send you back to the yard."

Max grinned.

"Exactly- wait what?"

But Ms. Jenny had already walked away.

Ned groaned.

"Ohh..."

"Ha ha, bye Bumble Bucket!" needled Max.

Ned couldn't help but feel guilty.

Later, Max and Monty drove by him again, as Ned was heading to drop off his shovel of debris into the pit.

"Get out of the way, Bumble Bucket!" laughed Monty.

"Don't drive on the road if you aren't fast like us!" Max taunted.

The two loud dump trucks were out of sight before Ned could say a word.

Ned felt worse than ever.

Just then, a horn blasted behind Ned.

Ned frowned.

"Must be another one that wants me to get off the road... Okay..."

Ned was about to turn to the left when Nigel drove up alongside.

"Ned, it's me! Nigel!"

Ned smiled, glad to see a friend for once.

"Oh, hi Nigel!"

Nigel grinned, but then quickly frowned.

"Ned, I saw the way Max and Monty were treating you earlier..."

Ned sighed.

"I know... I mean... I guess it's alright but-"

"No, it's not alright," huffed Nigel, "You're a nice steam shovel, Ned. You don't deserve to be taunted by those dump trucks."

Ned smiled bravely.

"...thanks Nigel but... They blamed me for smashing into some bricks when Max actually did it... So I got in trouble..."

Nigel was cross.

"That's not fair! You didn't do anything wrong!"

"Oh but it's not Miss Jenny's fault," protested Ned, "Max and Monty just... um... Can be a bit mean."

"A bit is an understatement," remarked Nigel angrily, "You shouldn't be treated like that."

"Oh, it's not so bad... I have to go to the pit now. Bye!"

And Ned trundled away.

Nigel frowned.

A few days later, one of the townhomes was nearly complete.

Jack and Alfie whooped for joy as the green excavator drove in circles around Jack.

"We did it! We built a townhome!" cried Alfie.

"Um... why is that as important as you're making it out to be?" asked Nelson as he drove up with Oliver.

"Why are you such a pessimist?" grumbled Jack.

Oliver chuckled as he drove off the trailer.

"But I'm just being practical here."

"Practical and boring," sneered Jack.

"I am not boring," protested Nelson.

"Yes you are."

Oliver rolled his eyes as he trundled up alongside the wall of the nearly-finished townhome.

He squinted as he noticed Max and Monty unloading some rocks for a garden in front of the townhomes.

"You aren't supposed to put those there though," Ned said quietly.

"I can do whatever I want," argued Max.

"Yeah, leave us alone, you bully," agreed Monty.

Ned gulped.

"But, uh, you're the ones-"

"Oops!" Max grinned as he slammed into Ned.

"Ouch!" Ned groaned as he banged into the wall of the townhome.

Max and Monty shut their eyes as the wall crumbled against Ned's weight.

"Oops..." stuttered Ned.

They opened their eyes and gasped as the townhome started to fall down.

On the rails, Thomas puffed up with the final supplies for the townhome.

He gasped as he noticed the townhome was started to fall down.

"Blistering buffers! The townhome's falling down! Look out, Oliver!"

Oliver raced away.

"Nelson, Jack, Alfie! Get out of there!"

Jack blinked.

"Huh?"

"Uh, Jack...? He's right! The walls are coming down!" Alfie exclaimed.

"it's crumbling down?!" Jack cried.

"Yes, it is. Now let's move before we're buried!" spluttered Nelson.

Nelson quickly reversed, as did Jack and Alfie.

A wall nearly fell onto the three of them, missing them by inches.

Jack coughed as some dust flew in his face.

"I can't believe this..." Nelson inhaled as the roof caved in and everything inside was destroyed.

The Pack and Thomas coughed as the dust started to fade away.

"How did that happen?" asked Thomas.

"I don't know," replied Oliver, "I just hope nobody was hurt..."

A brick bounced off of Ned.

"Ouch..."

Ned's audible pain made Oliver worriedly look around for someone in the rubble.

Oliver gasped when he noticed the steam shovel was covered in rock.

"Oh no! Ned, are you all right?!"

"I think so..." Ned groaned as another brick fell on him, "Ouch..."

Ms. Jenny, who had heard the noise, ran over to the source of the sound.

She gasped as she put a hand over her mouth.

"Oh goodness, what happened?!".

"I'm not really sure, ma'm," replied Oliver as the excavator trundled up towards her, "The townhome just... fell down!"

"It can't do that on its own..." Ms. Jenny sighed, "Something must've broken. But what could've broken it?"

Max and Monty looked from side to side, hoping nobody would suspect them, and instead suspect Ned.

"I'm afraid I don't know," sighed Oliver as Jack, Nelson, Alfie, and Byron started to drive behind him.

"What happened?" shouted Byron, "I was busy shoving some dirt so I didn't see what happened."

"The townhome fell down," explained Jack worriedly.

"Wait a minute, where's Ned?!" gasped Alfie.

Oliver smiled weakly.

"It's alright Alfie, Ned's fine."

"He is?"

Alfie raced forward to find Ned in a pile of rubble.

"I'm right here, everyone," Ned grunted, "It's just...I'm buried in here."

"How did you get buried?" asked Oliver as he trundled up beside Alfie, "The rest of us where away from the crash."

Ms. Jenny looked at Ned, noticing he looked nervous.

"Ned, do you know anything about this?"

"I... uh... ma'm... I didn't-"

"Ned rammed into the wall!" Max spluttered, catching everyone off guard.

Ms. Jenny whirled around and stared at Max.

"Are you sure? I can't exactly trust you two, since you cause so much mischief."

"But he looks guilty, like before with the bricks!" Monty cried, "You know how clumsy he can be!"

Ms. Jenny turned back to Ned.

"Ned, be honest. Did you do this?"

Ned gulped.

"I... um..."

Nelson, Jack, Alfie, Oliver and Byron looked on in worry; did Ned make the townhome fall down?

Just then, a loud horn signaled Nigel's presence.

Sure enough, Nigel raced up beside Oliver, panting wildly.

"Where'd you spring from?" Oliver asked in surprise.

"That's not important," Nigel persisted, "Ms. Jenny, can you listen to me for a moment, please?"

Max and Monty gulped, realizing Nigel knew of their exploits.

"Ms. Jenny, no-"

"Max and Monty, Nigel has the right to tell us something. What is it, Nigel?"

"Ma'm, Ned didn't knock the townhome down, or smash those bricks."

Ms. Jenny blinked.

"What are you talking about?"

Ned smiled as Nigel continued.

"Well, ma'm... Max and Mon-"

"He's lying-" cried Monty, before Ms. Jenny cut them off.

"So, it was you two all along?" she snapped.

"Uh..."

"Maybe."

"Max!"

Ms. Jenny sighed.

"Max, Monty, I honestly don't know what do with you anymore. You need to learn to respect your fellow construction vehicle. If you don't, I'll... think of something you won't like."

"Please no! Not the something we don't like!" gasped Max.

"Yes, the something you don't like. Now let's rebuild this townhome and rescue Ned. Come on everyone!"

And Ms. Jenny left to speak with The Foreman about the incident.

"...well... you heard what she said," said Oliver, "Let's get Ned out of that rubble!"

Thomas whistled as he made his presence clear to the others.

"I have supplies right here... you can use these."

"Oh. But aren't those for the other townhomes?" asked Jack.

"Might as well use them now," chuckled Thomas, "There's plenty more back at the yard."

"You heard the fellow," grinned Oliver, "Let's rebuild the townhome!"

"You really are trying to be inspirational today, aren't you?" needled Nigel.

"Um... maybe."

Soon, Kelly was sent to help with the rebuilding, and he loaded batches of wood, bricks and other supplies down to the ground so the workmen could put them to use.

"Thanks for the help, Kelly," said Byron gratefully.

"It's nothing," smiled Kelly, "I'm just doing what I do. I lift and load things."

"Sounds generic..."

"...just push the dirt."

Meanwhile, Oliver and Alfie set to work to getting Ned out of the rubble.

"Sorry about how Max and Monty were treating you, Ned," Alfie apologized as he shoveled some broken bricks away, "We should've done something sooner."

"It's not your fault," Ned grinned, "It was Max and Monty."

"Speaking of which... Are you going to apologize now?" Oliver asked Max and Monty, who were being loaded with the rubble.

"Uh... sorry, Ned," Max spluttered quickly, wanting to get it over with.

"Yes, sorry Ned," huffed Monty.

"Do you mean it?" asked Ned.

"I... guess."

"Then I accept."

Max and Monty were bewildered; nobody accepted their apologies.

"Uh...thanks?"

"Come on you two. Quit laying about and get back to work," teased Jack as he raced by with some dirt.

"Oh that's it! Get back here!" Max growled as he raced away in a cloud of dust.

"Hey, wait for me!" Monty huffed as he drove away too.

Oliver chuckled.

"I suppose those two'll learn to respect you more, eh Ned?"

"I suppose so," Ned said.

A few weeks later, after Ned had been taken to be fixed, the Pack were all waiting for him to return.

"Ms. Jenny said he'd return today," exclaimed Alfie as he lifted his shovel with excitement.

Before anyone could reply, a loud whistle blew as a black steam engine could be seen in the distance.

"Hello everyone!" puffed Neville as he braked at Cronk. "Ned's back!"

"Hooray!" cheered Jack, "Welcome back, Ned!"

Ned chuckled nervously as a crane slowly lowered him down to the ground.

"Thanks Jack. It's good to be back after all this time." the steam shovel said proudly.

Nigel honked his horn as he drove up to him.

"Hi Ned!"

Ned looked over and frowned slightly.

"Oh, uh... Nigel, I wish I said this before but... thank you."

Nigel blinked.

"For what?"

"For making me realize that Max and Monty were being a bit of a bully to me, and for putting them in their place when it looked like I was going to be sent back to the yard for good."

Nigel smiled.

"Hey, it's what friends are for!"

Ned beamed as the Pack started to honk their horns.

"Yeah... it is."


End file.
